


pull your (heart)strings

by mulgogish



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Attempt at Humor, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Mild Language, Red String of Fate, Self-Indulgent, this is just cute and funny and fluffy ilya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:13:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24945928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mulgogish/pseuds/mulgogish
Summary: Donghyuck keeps tripping, and he's convinced it has something to do with his soulmate.-Doyoung is impatient; therefore, he spends his time tugging at the invisible string of fate.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Lee Jeno
Comments: 7
Kudos: 190





	pull your (heart)strings

**Author's Note:**

> [insp.](https://www.instagram.com/p/CB5rWRnAOsV/?igshid=12ouviyy2p6km)

There is a wish inside him that Doyoung longs to come true. It's not the desperate kind of longing— it's the annoyed kind. He's been alive for twenty two years yet all these talks about soulmates is getting him nowhere. Ten could have stopped telling him to wait for the right time, instead spend more time helping in finding where that fucker is. Seriously, it's not like he's unattractive to not drag attention from a lot of people. It's just that, no one interests him. Ever. Even on dates he and his friends set up, there's never been any _spark_ to say the least. And Doyoung is fed up with this shit. 

"I swear to god, I'm about to start yanking that motherfucker towards me." He scowls, taking a bite of his donut. He knows his soulmate is somewhere _near_ him. A lot of prophecies have been told, that soulmates are 90% of the time closer than you think. 

"You can just calm down there big boy." Yuta chuckles across him, his faded long, pink hair shining prettily brought by the sunlight seeping through the glass walls. He's getting poetic these days, and he doesn't get why. "Try to not think about it too much, yeah? They will meet you as soon as possible. You'll feel it." 

Doyoung rolls his eyes at his friend. No matter how supportive or how much teasing he gets from him and the others, he still couldn't help but be impatient. "I don't-" Doyoung paused, like he's touched something he shouldn't have. Truth be told, he had been fiddling with the air beside his right hand while Yuta was speaking. He thinks he just found something. 

"I found it." Doyoung gives Yuta a clear wide smile, making the older narrow his eyes. He didn't reply, choosing to stare at Doyoung as he lifted his hand. 

"What am I supposed to look at?" 

"I can feel the string, Yuta." Doyoung answers, breathlessly. He gives the unusual air a little tug. Yes, he can definitely feel the heaviness brought by another human being. He keeps on tugging it, laughing cruelly as he gives it a harder tug. 

  
  


They hear a crash behind the counter a few seconds later, Doyoung didn't mind and continue to torture the poor invisible string of fate, and the person on the other side of it. 

"Doie, stop that." Yuta warns quietly. "You're making your soulmate hate you." 

Doyoung stops pulling, shoulders sagged. He continues eating his donut while Yuta looks over his friend's head to see who tripped behind the counter. 

  
  


-

  
  


It's really just between being so fortunately cursed or his soulmate trying to make fun of him that Donghyuck continues to trip and fall wherever he goes. He's convinced it's because of his soulmate. His mother's fortune teller friend couldn't be wrong that he was born lucky because of the stars' placements at the moment of his birth. So, it couldn't be him. It _has_ to be his asshole of a soulmate that's making his life miserable since he started working in this café. Although, contrary to his foul mouth whenever he speaks about his soulmate, Donghyuck feels no remorse towards the person. 

  
  


"They could probably just be impatient." Jaemin said after Donghyuck recollects himself. He's currently cleaning the sad latte on the floor while Donghyuck makes another one. "I mean, it has been twenty years, right? Who isn't impatient at this point?!" Jaemin continues to assure him, yelping when he steps on an ice cube. 

"If that's really the case. If his impatient ass has been the reason why I've been so clumsy," Donghyuck exhales, covering the cup and putting the drink on a tray. "then you bet I'll tug his hair the moment I see him." 

  
  


Jaemin laughs, moving to the side so Donghyuck could exit the counter. They talk about soulmates a lot, but he's never the one to say that he wants to meet his soulmate right away. Time and patience are lovers, and hopefully, his soulmate could understand that. There's a time to meet, so if his soulmate could please, please at least not tug too hard on the string. He's fallen on the job, and Kun's trying his best to understand Donghyuck's explanation of, "I'm not clumsy, it's my soulmate" excuse for four months now. 

  
  
  
  
  


His shift ends at six in the evening, so does Jaemin. He's glad they met in class and decided to apply for a job in the nearby café. It's a way to make extra allowance in some ways. "It might be a good way to find your soulmate, eh?" The blue haired boy said to him four months ago as they entered the café for an interview. 

  
  


"You free tonight?" Jaemin asks Donghyuck once they were outside the café, walking to the path of the dorms. 

Donghyuck shrugs, he's sure Jaemin wants him to attend another party. But he's beat, "I need to finish my report. I swear, if I don't pass it to Dejun on time he will kill me." 

Jaemin nods, patting Donghyuck's shoulder. "Okay, dude. Good luck on that!" He gives him a salute before going to his dorm's direction. 

  
  


When Donghyuck entered the lobby, he felt himself tripping at nothing. He balances on a nearby chair and rolls his eyes. "This fucker. I love you, but you're gonna bruise my face before you even meet me." He whispers to no one, angrily. 

  
  


"Said something?" 

Donghyuck turns around to one of the residents in the building. "Yes, Jaehyun. I was cursing my soulmate." 

  
  


The guy, Jaehyun chuckles before entering the elevator. He asks Donghyuck if he'll take it, too, but the younger shakes his head as he takes a seat on the chair. 

  
  


-

  
  
  


After finding where his soulmate string is placed, Doyoung lets himself tug it from time to time, just for the fun of it. Actually, it really is fun teasing your soulmate from afar. He laughs to himself as he heads to his next class. Ten and Yuta are looking at him funnily, eyebrows raised and mouth turned sourly. 

  
  


"I will kiss my soulmate endlessly when I meet him. I want him to know I am no Doyoung." Ten lets out a shiver once he looks away from his friend. 

  
  


They head to the class and sat there waiting for the professor. They talk amongst themselves, and Doyoung completely forgets, for a while, that he badly wants to meet his soulmate. It's always been like that, though, looking for something to waste his time on. Trying not to think of the person you'll spend the rest of your life with, but it's hard. He'd never been openly a romantic. In fact, his friends would call him the opposite of it: emotionless. But as he grew older, he managed to understand the beauty of having someone romantically interested in you, as well as you to them. There's nothing wrong with being friends, platonically intimate with someone, no. 

He loves cuddling Ten no matter how much he denies it. He loves it when Yuta pets his hair, his hands are soft and careful. But _his soulmate,_ it has to be the one thing Doyoung looks forward to the most. So if the little shit could just, just bump into him now. That would be nice. 

  
  
  


He loses focus at the lesson being taught forty minutes into the class. Mind drifting off to the thought of meeting his soulmate for the first time. Ten is probably recording whatever Mr. Roh is saying anyway. 

  
  


-

  
  
  


He's supposed to meet his group mates in the library after class, due to unforeseen (or foreseen, at this point) circumstances, Donghyuck had to text them he'll be late for it. Dejun is probably trying to his best to remain composed as Donghyuck's been doing this since the start of the term. So, he rush to the library after changing back to new clothes. 

Donghyuck tripped on the way to the library. He was close to the door when a chunk of air pulled him from his left hand, making him lose his balance on the pavement. The pavement, unfortunately, is muddy due to the rain that morning. His yellow sweatshirt and washed out jeans now tainted by brown. With much frustration, he speeds back to his room, hoping his soulmate won't do anything stupid while he's at it. 

  
  


"Sorry, hey, I'm here." Donghyuck announced himself in a whisper as he sat beside Hina. "What are we talking about?"

Hina looks at him and smiles, "Dejun's just discussing how we'll divide the powerpoint. We're also fixing some of the definitions." He thanks his groupmate and apologizes to Dejun once again. 

Hina is nice; Donghyuck had a thought before that maybe they're soulmates considering they're always in the same classes except for their majors. But it couldn't be, considering Hina doesn't look like the type of person to tug at the invisible string just to pull their soulmate closer. 

Shaking the thought away, Donghyuck focuses on Dejun's instruction regarding their report tomorrow afternoon. 

  
  
  
  


-

  
  


"How about the festival next week?" Yuta says when the three of them are walking around the campus, food in their hands. They see a bunch of business majors setting up their booths and tents all over the university grounds. "It's that time of the year again." 

  
  


Doyoung nods, wiping the sauce on his lips. He's been here for three years to know that the freshmen are always the ones who are most excited about the events. Even freshmen from the business department; although busy, at least they can excuse themselves from their classes as it's an annual activity of theirs. Doyoung never had to experience that. The language and literature department copes more with seminars and volunteer work for co-curricular and extracurricular activities. 

  
  


They pass by one booth, guarded by mainly students who looked younger than the three of them. The one sitting inside hands the girl wire when she asked for them. Yuta walks to the booth, distracting them of their duties. 

  
  


"How hard it must be for you children to do this all by yourselves." Yuta sighs, dramatically, closing his eyes for effects. The girl goes down the ladder and looks at them. By this point, Doyoung's only wish is to run and disassociate himself with his friends. The freshmen are working hard for their grades, yet Yuta is here, free of time. 

  
  


"Nah, man, it's fun." The one sitting inside the booth answers, making the girl smack him on the head. 

"Of course it's fun for you! You're not doing anything!" She complains, repeating the same gesture to his shoulder. 

"Sweetie, you're hurting me!"

"I am aware of that, Mark." 

Ten nods to himself and looks at Doyoung. _Soulmates,_ he mouths and Doyoung nods. They look cute together, they must have fought a lot, but nothing could break a bond even if their normal routine includes bickering. That's how soulmates work, you understand each other, yet that doesn't mean you won't correct their mistakes. 

"Eunji, Mark; if you could stop loving each other for a while, that would be nice." They hear another voice moving from behind the tent. The boy walks into view, eyes trained tiredly at the two. 

They're enjoying this so far, Doyoung could see the glimmer in his friends' eyes as they watch young lovers communicate. Even so, the three of them are still single to this day. 

"Jeno, if you could please stop being jealous, we would love that." The girl, Eunji, smiles innocently at Jeno, and the guy scoffs. 

Yuta laughs, "You'll find yours soon. Or not." He shrugs, gesturing to the three of them. "Next thing you know you're a junior and still haven't found them. Good luck, kiddo!" He gives a dumbfounded Jeno a salute before dragging Doyoung and Ten away. Yuta loves distracting freshmen; it's his favorite pastime. 

  
  


-

  
  


On the other side of the campus, Donghyuck sits in front of his laptop, dreading why he even took engineering in the first place. Who is he kidding, he wants to be an engineer. But seeing the colorful tents currently surrounding the campus grounds, he wishes his department could've made something as fun as festival week for the business majors. Maybe he should have taken business? Renjun is a marketing major, he says it's fun. 

  
  


Shaking his daydreams away, Donghyuck glanced back to his online exam. He's told calculus is hell, but he didn't know it's worse than how they described it. Johnny from downstairs, he's a senior in the same department, told them once that he took calculus two times, and physics three times. His physics professors had enough of him, and took pity. Donghyuck shivers at the memory, he doesn't want to retake calculus. He didn't even want to take it in the first place. But he had to. 

  
  


Instead of sulking around, wishing for other things, Donghyuck sighs and goes back to his exam. The submission is in two hours, please help him. 

  
  
  


As he was about to grab the scientific calculator in his bag, his left hand swings weirdly beneath the desk. Donghyuck grunts, "You again." He slaps his arm, thinking it might do anything (other than redden his skin). He tries to get the calculator from his bag again and succeeds. 

  
  


It happens a few times while he's busy solving the problems. When Donghyuck is just about to write down the answer to his scratch paper, his other hand wiggles as if to catch his attention. He wants to laugh at how persistent his soulmate is. "Can you chill? The love of your life has an exam to pass." He whispers to no one again.

Frankly, when others hear him talk to himself like this, it embarrasses him. But Donghyuck likes it, it gives him confirmation that someone is eager to be with him. If they could just stop pulling his hand, that would be appreciated. 

  
  


Then as he busies himself with writing on his notebook, he drags his left hand to submit the exam. Instead, his hand clicks on a pop up ad and sends his browser into a frenzy. He fumbles, exiting all the tabs that are beginning to double on the browser. Sighing, he goes back to the page, double checks his exam, and clicks submit. 

  
  


Once finally free of things to do, Donghyuck lets himself think of the day he'll meet his soulmate. Smiling to himself, how nice that would be. 

  
  


-

  
  
  


Morning of the festival begins, but that doesn't mean they're exempted from their classes. In fact, Doyoung frowns as he sees all these business majors gather in the campus grounds as every other department does their normal schedule. Yuta and Ten have different schedules for today, he'll be off earlier than them. It's something he loves telling the two. 

  
  


While writing down notes on literary translations, Doyoung couldn't help but hear loud cheers and laughter from downstairs. He suddenly focuses his attention on his soulmate. Maybe, it's not just him. He heard Sooyoung from behind him talk about how the students might be finding their soulmates now, still they're stuck in class listening to boring discussion. Doyoung thinks this subject isn't boring, but meeting his soulmate now seems more exciting. 

  
  
  


As soon as the professor dismissed them, Doyoung and the others hastily packed their belongings to go on their way. He doesn't have any more classes, which means he can enjoy the events happening on campus grounds without worries. He spots some booths selling food, and his stomach automatically growls. 

  
  


Doyoung shrugs, dragging himself to the booth that sells pastries. He picks one castella and buys milk tea specially made by the students handling the booth. While waiting for the beverage to be made, Doyoung looks down on his right hand. With a tentative tug on the invisible thread, he smiles to himself. 

"Doyoung ssi?" The girl gives Doyoung his order. He thanks the girl before going for a walk. He keeps on pulling after he's finished his bread. 

Doyoung goes to the other part of the campus to see that they're catering carnival games. He absentmindedly tugs on the string this time, while watching a group of students try and win in a whack-a-mole machine. 

"Shit." Doyoung hears someone curse close to him. He looks in front of him to see what it's about. "Oh, shit, sorry." It occurs to him a few seconds later that a guy with brown hair is apologizing to him. 

"Oh," was the only thing Doyoung managed to say. He looks at the ice cream stain on his shirt. Contrast to his white shirt, a blue and pink colored stain lies just in the middle of his chest. "Oh, oh no it's fine." 

The guy hands him a napkin, scratching his nape with his free hand after. "My hand, it's been weird lately." 

That peaks Doyoung's attention as he cleans the stain that can only be fixed by detergent at this point. He looks down on his right hand and tugs harder on the thread he's been fiddling for a week. The guy yelps, pushing himself closer to Doyoung.

Doyoung smiles, knowingly. "So," He looks up at the guy, just an inch taller than him, his eyes confused and amused at best. "Is there a reason why your hand has been pretty...weird?" He smirks, enjoying tugging on the invisible string as he stares at the guy's face. 

"I'm Jaehyun." His _soulmate—_ and he could hear Ten and Yuta's cheers from the south and north buildings— introduced himself. 

"Doyoung." He smiles, genuinely this time. "I guess you're my soulmate?" 

"I guess I am." Jaehyun laughs, standing closer as if it was possible to do so, "I was beginning to think I rub off of Donghyuck's clumsiness that's why I kept tripping and stuff." He explains, lifting one hand to touch Doyoung's cheek. 

He welcomes the touch and smiles to himself. "Well you're not. You're actually lucky."

"Why is that?"

"Because you found me." Doyoung cheekily says, leaning over to Jaehyun's face. "Can you kiss me?"

Jaehyun smirks, "So eager, it's only the first meeting." Yet, he closes their distance and gives Doyoung the kiss he's been waiting for. Nothing could prepare him for Jaehyun's soft, pink lips. It's like tasting cotton candy— which might be the flavor of his ice cream. It's dreamy, and none of the noise around them could stop him from pulling Jaehyun by his collar, kissing him deeper. 

  
  


"I can't believe I'll get more of that." Jaehyun breathes out once they pull back from the kiss. 

"I told you, you're lucky." 

  
  


They walk hand in hand after that, getting to know each other as they'll be spending their lives together. After years of dreaming, years of yearning, it only occurred to Doyoung now how wonderful it is to be beside someone meant for you. 

  
  


-

  
  


Donghyuck and Jaemin circle the place where carnival games were stationed. It's been a while since they've been to actual carnivals and amusement parks. With freshman year starting, they don't have the money and allotted time to enjoy themselves. The crowd buzzed with energy, screaming and laughing has made his day so far. It's only one in the afternoon, and Donghyuck feels like everyone's happy, away from all the project, recit, and reports. 

  
  


Jaemin grabs him on the wrist, dragging him on a familiar carnival game. "Hyuck, come on. Win me that friendship bracelet!" Jaemin whines at him, pointing at the item on the table across them. 

  
  


"You guys wanna play?" A guy behind the booth tells them, and Jaemin nods. He hands a token to the girl next to him; a token they had to get before they were able to play games. Renjun is stationed there, but even their good friend didn't get them extra tokens. 

"You know the rules guys," The girl happily starts. "Pop five balloons, and you'll get the item you want. If you wish to add more pins, one token per three pins." Donghyuck nods, eyes locked on the balloons above the table.

  
  


He pops two continuously until his left hand reacts again. Rolling his eyes, he switched to his right hand, but the other hand bumped into the table below him. He winces in pain, Jaemin walking up to him to ask what's wrong. 

"Your soulmate wants us to lose, too?" Jaemin jokes, grabbing the remaining three pins on Donghyuck's hand. 

"I just wish he could stop tugging my hand and start revealing himself, you know." Donghyuck pouts, he's had enough of this push and pull, literally, for the past four months. History books say that one's soulmate grows nearer and nearer as time passes by. 

  
  


It won't be a surprise if Donghyuck's soulmate goes to the same university. But, the question is, when will he show himself? As he concludes his thought, Jaemin groans from beside him. "I need more pins." 

Donghyuck sees the girl from before, busy with the other customers. "Hey," He gestures for the other boy that isn't occupied at the moment. "More pins for us, please. Thank you." 

"Jeno!" The guy from before calls this guy's attention. Jeno is his name, Donghyuck nods to himself. "I'm gonna buy some drinks." 

Jeno hums and smiles at him, without knowing Donghyuck smiles as well. "Here you go." Jeno gives Jaemin the pins and Donghyuck pays with a token. 

  
  


Then Jeno scratches his hand, and it sends Donghyuck closer to the table in front of him. He groans for the umpteenth time, wondering why he hasn't had any bruises yet from the amount of times he's plunged himself into solid objects. "Are you okay?" He hears Jeno worriedly say. 

"He's been hit in the shin by his string for four months now. This is normal." Jaemin waves his pain like it happens everyday, so he glares at his friend. 

"Wait, why?" Instead of leaving it at that, Jeno becomes curious and so is Donghyuck. 

"I'm convinced my soulmate is out to get me, that's why he keeps on tugging our string." Donghyuck grunts, straightening himself to face Jeno. He stares at Donghyuck curiously. Then he tries something that Donghyuck didn't expect. 

Jeno lifts his right hand, tugging on nothing but air, and it gets Donghyuck's left hand to lift on its own. His eyes widen, Jaemin gives a gasp. 

"You..." Donghyuck starts, but stops, and instead walks around the booth to grab Jeno by the collar. The girl with him yells at them, asking where he's taking Jeno. 

Jaemin apologizes on his behalf but didn't turn to follow the two of them. He remains standing awkwardly as the girl questions Donghyuck's action. 

  
  
  


They stop at the waiting shed near the university gate. Donghyuck glares at Jeno, and the other, taller one gives him a confused look. Although they could feel what the other is thinking— it's another trait that is so wonderful about soulmates, but not now— they need words to clear the air around them. 

  
  


"Dude," Donghyuck whines, burying his face on his palms. "I have been tripping and falling, and being called clumsy by everyone I meet because you keep tugging on my arm so harshly." He looks up and pouts. He sees Jeno's eyes widen, understanding his side. 

"I'm so sorry," Jeno moves closer, swiping Donghyuck's bangs away from his face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

Donghyuck sighs, circling his arm on Jeno's neck to pull him closer. The other yelps, making him laugh. He's adorable. "It's fine, baby. But please, never do that again. I don't wanna get scolded by Kun hyung again." He continues to pout, knowing full well Jeno's growing weak for it already. He's always had that charm in him that makes anyone he meets melt for him. What more if it's his soulmate. 

  
  


"Baby?" Jeno's expression changes into something different, giving Donghyuck a cheeky grin. "What's my baby's name, didn't get to catch it." 

"Donghyuck." He breathes out, wondering why he never saw how pretty Jeno looks. 

"Can I call you Duckie? I think it's cute." By this time, they completely forget that Donghyuck has had to deal with Jeno's tugging for four months, and just basked in each other's presence. 

"You can call me anything you want, baby." He breathes out once again. Donghyuck's been out of breath of the last three minutes, just by the way Jeno looks at him. 

"I can't believe my soulmate is you. You're breathtaking." 

"I love you already." 

  
  


Some time after exchanging sweet and cheesy words that they might tease each other for in the future, Donghyuck and Jeno found themselves peacefully walking along the busy campus. Being impatient isn't technically a bad thing. As Donghyuck said over and over, he's just fortunate that someone wants to be with him just as much as he wants them. And for that, he's thankful he's met Jeno like this. 

**Author's Note:**

> (it's been sooo long since ive written for dojae and nohyuck aaaaa) 
> 
> kudos and comments are highly appreciated ♡


End file.
